Family PleuronectidaeRighteye Flounders Selected Characters: Body compressed; eyes and pigment usually on right (dextral) side of body. Juvenile pleuronectids swim upright near the surface and have bilateral symmetry, but during their development one eye (usually the left) migrates to the other side of the cranium, and the fish takes to lying or swimming near the bottom on its eyeless side. This remarkable transition also involves complicated modifications of the fish's bones, nerves and muscles. Adult pleuronectids are benthic fishes which generally occur in cold marine environments, though a few live in the tropics and some enter freshwater. These fishes are carnivorous. The largest members of this family approach 3 meters in length. There are about 93 pleuronectid species, about 15 of which have been recorded in Puget Sound. The Hybrid Sole has been accorded the scientific name Inopsetta ischyra, though some believe it results from crossings between the English Sole, Parophrys vetulus, and the Starry Flounder, Platichthys stellatus, and therefore may not be a true species. The family Pleuronectidae is common in Puget Sound and important fisheries are associated with several of its species. Puget Sound Species Atheresthes stomias Arrowtooth Flounder Eopsetta jordani Petrale Sole Glyptocephalus zachirus Rex Sole Hippoglossoides elassodon Flathead Sole Hippoglossus stenolepis Pacific Halibut Inopsetta ischyra Hybrid Sole Isopsetta isolepis Butter Sole Lepidopsetta bilineata Rock Sole Lyopsetta exilis Slender Sole Microstomus pacificus Dover Sole Parophrys vetulus English Sole Platichthys stellatus Starry Flounder Pleuronichthys coenosus C-O Turbot Pleuronichthys decurrens Curlfin Turbot Psettichthys melanostictus Sand Sole |